Elevated carrier system.



No. 880,848. PATENTED FEB. 25, 1908.

' P. w. AYER.

ELEVATED CARRIER SYSTEM..

APPLICATION FILED MAY 24, 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET '1.

ms nomus Pzrzns cm, wAsnuvcran, p. c.

FRED W. AYER, OF BANGOR, MAINE.

ELEVATED CARRIER SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 25, 1908.

Application filed May 24:. 1907. Serial No. 375385.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, FRED W. AYER, of

I Bangor, in the county of Penobscot and State of Maine, a citizen of the United States, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Elevated Carrier Systems, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accom panying drawings, forming a part of this specification in explaining its nature.

My invention relates to a system of the above character especially adapted for the aerial transportation of logs by gravity over long distances.

My invention can best be seen and understood by reference to the drawings in which- Figure 1 shows a portion of my improved carrier system partly in section and partly in front elevation, the carriers and connections being in a position ready to receive a log, while Fig. 2 shows a sectional view of the system in which the log is shown supported in position to be carried. Fig. 3 shows a portion of the system in side elevation. Figs. 4 and 5 show in detail elements of the system to which special reference will hereinafter be made.

Referring to the drawings :A, A represent posts set upright in the ground and forming the primary means of suspension and support. These posts are distributed at proper distances from one another in two lines all along the course which is to be traversed by the logs and the lines of posts are transversely separated from one another a suflicient distance to insure the free passage of the logsbetween them when the logs are carried in the manner as will hereinafter be described.

Extending inwardly from each post is a cross-bar or beam a supported in a horizontal position by a brace a In this connection it is to be noted that a clear space is left between the ends of the cross-bars at extending from the respective lines of posts, the crossbars extending inwardly only so far as to provide a suitable bed or support for the tracks-or rails A A laid upon them.

Resting upon the tracks or rails A A are the carriers B. Each of these carriers is in the nature of a truck comprising the double flanged wheels I), b running upon the respective tracks. These wheels are connected by an axle-b ar b the ends of the bar outside the wheels being provided with suitable pins or other retaining flanges b by which the wheels are kept from spreading. Connecting with the axle-bar b at either end thereof just in from the wheels I), b and as near as possible to the axles of the bar 6 on which the wheels are turning is an upwardly-arched truss-bar 5*. Connecting with the middle of this truss bar and extending down around the axle-bar b preferably on either side thereof, is a strap b the two ends of which are brought together beneath the axle-bar and to which is attached the chain 1) by which the logs'to be carried are held hanging pendent from the carrier. The weight of the log accordingly comes primarily upon the supporting trussbar 5' and inasmuch as the ends of this bar connect with the axle-bar at points adjacent to the wheels, the strain from the weight of the log will accordingly come upon the axlebar at points just adjacent to its axles and not at any intermediate point where thestrain from the weight of the log might tend to bend or break the axle-bar.

The arched or truss-bar b of the carrier is maintained in a proper u right position on the up er side of the axle ar by the weight of the 0g, or even the weight of the chain b attached to the strap connecting with the truss-bar is suflicient for this purpose.

After the chain has been wrapped around the log or logs it is secured in the following manner: Attached to the strap 5 is a hook or member '6 having an eye 6 sufficiently large to permit of the chain 6 being drawn through it. The member 6 is preferably loosely connected with the strap b so that it may swivel or turn freely. Connecting also with the strap 5 is a key or member 6 made preferably in the form of a hook with a long shank by which it may be seized and which member is bent or formed to just straddle or draw sidewise over a link of the chain which enters a slot or eye 6 formed in said member. Now after the log or logs have been brought into a proper position to receive the chain 6 depending from the strap of the carrier and this chain has been passed around the log or logs, then the end of the chain is brought up and passed through the eye 6 of the chainreceiving member If. The chain is then drawn taut after which the operator draws the link-straddling member 5 over that link of the chain 5 which is contained either within the eye of the chain-receiving member b or that link which was last drawn through the same, the link-straddling memher I) being applied to the chain on the rear b, which link has been partly drawn through the eye of the chain-receiving member 5 the link-straddling member If occupying an interposed, interlocking position between the rear side of the chain-receiving member I) and the end of the link I) adjacent to the one it is straddling, with the effect that the chain cannot draw back through the eye of its receiving member If because the link I) bears against the link-straddling member I) which bears against the rear side of the member 5 through which the chain is drawn. This furnishes not only a very simple and easy method of securing the end of the chain b after it has been wrapped around the log, but it also enables the log or logs carried to be quickly released from its carrying chain, for by a quick sharp blow imparted to the end of the linkstraddling member If it will be dislodged from the link that it is straddling when the chain I) wrapped around the log will become disconnected from the member 5 and. the

10 fall.

In practice I prefer to use only two carriers for each log carried, or parcel of logs, for where the logs are small more than one can be carried by the same supporting chains. The carriers support the log or parcel of logs at either end in the manner shown in Fig. 3.

A convenient method of loading the log or logs onto the carriers is shown in Fig. 1 and consists in rolling the logs onto a platform 0, the end of which is beneath the elevated trackway on which the carriers are mounted. The height of this platform is sufficient to hold the logs in a position slightly above that which the logs will occupy when han ing pendent from the carriers. At the enc of this platform the logs are attached to the carriers in the manner before explained, after which the logs are shoved off the end of the platform to hang pendent from the carriers and. in position to be moved away.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States 1. A system of the character specified having an elevated track extending along the line of travel, means for supporting the rails of said track in lines separate from one another with an interposed space below and between said rails whereby said log may travel in said clearance as said carriers move along said track.

2. In a system of the character specified having an elevated track extending along the line of travel, means for supporting the rails of said track in lines separate from one another with an interposed space below and between them, a carrier mounted upon said track, the same having wheels resting upon said rails, a connecting axle bar anda truss bar mounted upon said axle bar, and means connecting with said truss bar for supporting a log to travel in the clearance below and between said rails.

3. In a system of the character specified, a carrier having wheels, an axle bar connecting said wheels and a truss bar mounted upon said axle bar.

4, In a system of the character specified having an elevated track extending along the line of travel, means for supporting the rails of said track in lines separate from one another with an interposed space below and between them, a carrier mounted upon said track, the same having wheels resting upon said rails, a connecting axle-bar and a trussbar mounted upon said axle-bar, and means connecting with said truss-bar for supporting a log to travel in the clearance below and between said rails and whereby said truss-bar may be maintained in a proper upright position by the Weight of the log,

5. In a system of the character specified, a carrier having wheels, a single axle-bar connecting said wheels, a truss-bar mounted upon said axle-bar, and means'for supporting a log from said truss-bar whereby said truss-bar may be maintained in a proper upright position by the weight of the log.

67 In a system of the character specified having an elevated track extending along the line of travel, means for supporting the rails of said track in lines separate from one another with an interposed space or clearance below and between them, a carrier mounted upon said track, the same having wheels resting upon said rails, a connecting axle bar and a truss mounted upon said axle bar, a strap connecting with said truss and extending around and below said axle bar, and means connecting with said strap for supporting said log to travel in the clearance below and between said rails.

7. In a system of the character specified having an elevated track, a carrier mounted upon said track, the same having wheels resting upon the rails of said track, a connecting axle bar and a truss mounted upon said ada ted to be drawn crosswise any link of aXle bar, a strap connecting with saidtruss, sai chain alongside said loop-forming mema chain connecting with said strap and adaptber, substantially as described.

ed to be Wound around the log to be carried, FRED W. AYER. a bog-forming member having a hole or open- In presence of ing t erein of sufiicient size for said chain to L. B. BARRETT,

be drawn through the same, and a hook EDWARD O. GIBBONS. 

